Tis the season

I love the Christmas season and so does Claire. We started decorating in November and getting our house all festive. One of our traditions is to make a cookie recipe that Jason grew up with (Kruis almond cookies) when we get our Christmas tree. The house always smells good with cookies baking, and a fresh tree being decorated. Claire loved decorating every single cookie this year and I loved it too! I would frost them and just pass them over to her. We were finished in no time. So now we have all our decorations up and are enjoying our cold weather. Jason has been making us a fire every night this week due to really cold weather. It is 19 degrees outside right now and there is snow on the ground. The girls loved playing in the snow (it was more like ice than soft snow). The roads are still pretty icy over here and since most of us don't know how to drive in this weather (exceptions for my hubby) we having been staying inside. I love being inside near the fire and cuddling with my girls when it is freezing outside. What a fun blessing to get some snow in Fort Worth. 

Decorating the cookies

A few of her creations

She is like her mommy when it comes to loving Christmas.

Santa Hannie

Claire in the snow

Claire and Grace playing in the snow

Mommy and Claire

Gracie

It's a BOY!!

At the end of November we were so excited to find out God has blessed us with our first baby BOY!! Here is a picture of Luke Alexander Kruis who will, God willing, be joining our family at the end of April. Bring on the blue, our house really needs a color change. 

Luke Kruis

Cowgirl museum

My parents took the girls to the Cowgirl museum so of course they had to dress the part. We also went to check out the Curious George exhibit at the children's museum. It was a fun day and I was trying so hard to get a picture to use for our Christmas card but it is quite the challenge to get 3 babies to all look and smile at the camera. Here are some pictures of the Kruis cowgirls.

Playing at the cowgirl museum

This wasn't at the museum but it was such a cute picture I had to add it.

Still trying to get that perfect shot

Hannie playing at the museum

Cowgirls

My parents took the girls to the Stockyards so they could get boots and cowgirl hats. The girls had a blast with their Papi and BB. They ate ice-cream, went to the petting zoo, and rode all the rides they could at the Stockyards. To finish Claire got to pick out a pair of boots, which she has been wearing non-stop since she got them (with her pajamas and to church). The girls went to a cowboy theme party this past weekend so I tried to get a picture of my cowgirls all together. They are so Texan but I have to say, I still don't own boots, I'm too Californian to give up my sandals.

Eating strawberry ice-cream

Cowgirl Grace

Cowgirl Claire

Check out the boots she picked out

My 3 cowgirls

My 3 princesses

This year the girls dressed up like princesses, of course we were not at all surprised. This is how Claire and Grace usually dress.

Belle, Sleeping Beauty, and Cinderella

Hannie is 1

I can't believe my baby is already 1! It went by fast, like it always does. We just did a small family birthday breakfast for her. She ate sticky buns and lots of berries before opening her gifts. Claire, with the help of a sweet friend, made Hannah a strawberry birthday cake. She was so proud of the fact she had made the cake and decorated it. Hannah has been such a sweet blessing to our family and we are so undeserving of all of our girls. Now I can say that I have a 3 year old, a 2 year old, and a 1year old!! Life is busy but I wouldn't have it any other way. I know this season will fly by and before I know it my little girls will be little women. So for now I get to just enjoy every moment with my 3 babies.

The home-made strawberry cake made by Claire

The birthday girl wearing her Hello Kitty crown

Playing with her new toy from Papi and BB

San Antonio

We took our first road trip in a while and headed down to San Antonio for my cousin's wedding. Claire had been looking forward to seeing Mimi in her wedding dress for about a month so she was very excited for this wedding weekend. The first day we were there we headed down to the river walk and the girls loved it. We ate, rode a river boat, and had gelato. The girls were a little restless during the boat tour but overall they did great. All 3 girls danced their little hearts out at the rehearsal dinner. Claire couldn't wait to get dressed up for the wedding. She had a great time dancing after the ceremony to the Mariachi band that was playing. At the wedding there was a kid room filled with activities and even special food for all the kids who were at the reception. My cousin even had 3 babysitters on hand to watch the little ones so the adults could enjoy the reception. I had never seen anything like this before and Grace and Hannah had a blast in the kid room. Claire stayed with us but when it was dinner time she was happy to eat in the kid room. It was a busy and fun trip for us all. 

Having fun on the river walk

Exploring with Papi

On the river boat

Mimi walking down the aisle

Claire enjoying the river boat

Daddy and Hannie at the restaurant

Claire kept wanting to touch the water every chance she had

Dancing with daddy after the ceremony

The littles on the river walk

All of us at the wedding

Oma and Opa came to visit

The girls were thrilled to find out their grandparents (Oma and Opa) were coming to visit. They enjoyed every minute of the constant attention they received. They went on walks, played at the park, played outside, went to Botanical Gardens, and soaked in every moment. This trip came at a great time for me as I was just starting to feel the full force of my fatigue and nausea in my first trimester. What a blessing to have so much help. It also helped the girls this time to know they will be seeing their Oma and Opa again after Christmas. This definitely minimized the tears when they had to say good-bye. 

All dressed for church

Being silly

Oma, Opa, and the girls

Posing

Thanks to Opa, we were able to get a family shot.

Turtle watching at the Botanical Gardens

All tired out at the mall

Pictures

Gracie accessorizing 

Hannie big enough to drive

Claire and Grace

Showing off her sand art and balloon lion

Ah, spaghetti night

Sweet Gracie

The big news....

God has blessed us with 3 beautiful girls and now we have the joy of looking forward to our 4th blessing. Kruis baby number 4 will be (God willing) joining our family in late April early May. The first question Claire asked me was if it was a boy :) We will see...

It's official

Our 3 beautiful blessings

Our final evening

For our last evening we did a picnic dinner on the beach and stayed until sunset. The girls played and we all enjoyed our final sunset together. We had a wonderful time with Grandma and hopefully we will get to go back out there next summer.

Happy Hannie after eating all her strawberries

Bundled up and staying warm in Auntie Katie's jacket

Our final sunset

Playing the sand together